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October 12, 2010

Porcini Ravioli

Enough chocolate - at least for a while! I do not think, that I am going to bake anything with chocolate very soon, but of course one never knows. At the weekend I found beautiful porcini and I was planning to make risotto, because that is just so good that nothing can beat it, but then I let my thoughts free. For me this pasta dish is kind of an ode to porcini.

First of all, I prepared a porcini gelée of reduced porcini water and chicken stock, so that at the end I had a very concentrated, intense porcini flavour. Usually, I am not a jelly fan at all, but lately I have managed more than once to prepare a jelly with a nice consistency. For the ravioli I prepared the pasta dough with dried porcini and used the fresh ones for the filling. The whole thing was served among a thyme foam and a chanterelle sauce with rich veal stock and sherry. Those sauces are nothing new, the thyme foam is based on an earlier basil foam, that I prepared for a fish dish and the chanterelle sauce is just the same like the one I served with the herb patterned pasta. Just imagine how the porcini gelée melts under the warm ravioli and the pasta soaks it all in, what a beautiful intense flavour!

Whisk flour, semolina and ground porcini together. Make a hole in the middle and slowly add whisked egg and with a help of a fork mix it together. When the dough is getting viscous knead it with your hands until it is smooth. With a help of a pasta machine roll out pasta dough and place a teaspoon of the filling on it and make ravioli with a help of a form or anything you've got and cook it in simmering salted water for 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the dough. For the filling chop shallot and porcini. Heat olive oil and fry porcini until almost golden brown, add shallot and fry until it is softened. Now season with salt and pepper and add chopped parsley. Let it cool. When cooled stir in some crème fraîche (I used homemade according to this recipe, it is gorgeous!.